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Connecting Communities Through Food

A student in a social design class opened a halal hotdog stand to encourage broader acceptance of Minneapolis' Somali community, combining Muslim and American traditions in one mustard-filled bun.

The Somali population in Minneapolis is the largest in the country, but when several teenage Somalians went to fight as part of the Islamic rebellion in Somalia, the FBI raided the neighborhood, sowing distrust. Brian Wiley, an MFA student at the Minneapolis College for Art and Design, sought to mend the fence:

Zak Stone reports:

"Wiley and his partners developed the idea of a Somali-operated Halal hot dog cart " as a way to celebrate Somali culture and change its perception here in the Twin Cities. Halal's a very Muslim thing. Hot dogs are a very American thing.""